Guild Wars 2: Secrets of the Obscure is the first expansion ArenaNet has done since they announced the change to their strategy for handling expansions and the storylines in between. It was overall a success, but since then, we have been waiting to see what the first update, Through The Veil, in this new system would bring with it. In preparation for today’s update, I participated in a preview last week. So, let’s dive into what players can expect when they hop in.
New Map, New Story
With this update, we get three new story chapters, which continue where things left off at the end of the expansion storyline. For anyone who forgot where we left off: we dealt with Cerus with Peitha’s help, and she returned to the Wizard’s Tower with us. Sadly, I couldn’t play through the new story chapters, so I have limited information to share there. However, through the story, we journey with Peitha to Inner Nayos, where our adventures in this update take place.
Inner Nayos is a highly inhospitable place. Think back to our first steps into Verdant Brink; it’s like that but ratcheted up a couple of notches. Kryptis are everywhere. I didn’t see Kryptis pocket raptors, but I’m sure they are somewhere. Thankfully, the skyscale does help with getting around a lot, but there are, of course, turrets in the sky, so it isn’t free exploration that way either. I tend to prefer maps that lean a bit harder toward the exploration side of things, but that wouldn’t make sense in this case. After all, we are essentially going to an enemy stronghold.
The meta revolves around trying to bring down a barrier so we can assault a fort. The main goal is to light various braziers, which isn’t an easy task because you have to carry light from one brazier to the others, and if you aren’t careful, the light you carry will be extinguished. We had a small group doing this, but it is clearly designed to be an event where the most efficient way to progress will be to split up and tackle multiple areas simultaneously. Once we lit all the braziers, we converged on the barrier and made a last push to bring it down.
Once the barrier was down, we ran into a dense fog/mist, which dealt a ton of damage and prevented us from continuing. The next update should bring the second half of this meta, and then the whole thing should chain together seamlessly. Overall, I like these two-part metas once the entire thing is implemented. I always get frustrated when we only have the first half because it is unfinished. I do agree they couldn’t keep adding a new map with every update for a lot of reasons, but I wish they could mix this formula up a bit. We’ve been getting maps in two halves for a bit now.
Convergences
Along with the new story and new map, this update also brings a new type of instanced large group content in the form of Convergences. These are designed for groups of 35 - 50 and take place in an instanced version of Inner Nayos. There is some amount of scaling present, but they will not scale down to a small group size. The ArenaNet devs didn’t say precisely where the scaling floor was, though. Players can either participate in a public group or as a private squad, though to open the private version, one person needs to have an Unstable Kryptis Motivation. These will drop from T2/T3 rifts or as a reward for finishing a convergence once a week.
One of the best innovations with convergences is how they handle players when they die. There are no waypoints inside the convergence, so in normal conditions, any player who died would be dead weight until someone could manage to rez them. However, rather than dying, players will become wisps and have a whole new set of abilities available. These let players still take part and help out until the event progresses to a milestone where anyone dead will revive. I had a ton of fun as a wisp, and it was a refreshing spin on everything.
I love this addition, and I hope it does well. I had a ton of fun with it in the preview; I just worry about how difficult it could be to get people together for a Convergence. Having the public option is great; hopefully, it will get people interested. It can often be challenging to get players together for a strike mission, which is only ten people. However, strike missions don’t have a public option, which might make it easier to get a group together.
In addition to the new map and meta, new story chapters, and Convergences, we are also getting six new relics, which are all themed after this update. Additionally, they are also adding an F1 toggle skill while on the skyscale and griffon. This skill allows us to turn leyline riding on and off for these two mounts, and it will remember how you last set it. This is a considerable quality of life improvement. I know on the skyscale I can just dodge out of a leyline, but they still often take me off from my chosen course very quickly. Not having to land to change this preference is also a smart move that I appreciate.
Overall, Through the Veil contains a sizeable chunk of content and things to chase after; I certainly wasn’t expecting to get Convergences, so that’s an all-around bonus. What are you looking forward to doing the most?
